


The Orphan

by theKirin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 16:32:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11718207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theKirin/pseuds/theKirin
Summary: Shiro and Lance are kidnapped by Lotor.Lotor bargains and sadistically tells Keith he can have one of them back, but he must choose which.Look inside the mind of the red paladin; and learn about his past.





	The Orphan

The Orphan

 

“Keith..”  
The voice came, deep, resonant, and familiar. In his sleep, the red paladin winced his eyes lightly as his dream state brought him to a place he knew well. A place he hadn't seen in a while.  
Within the shack in the desert, the nipping heat of the mid-day was curbed by the humble shelter his father had been able to provide, considering the strained circumstances. A breeze came through the broken window, moving the white sheet draped unceremoniously in front of it.  
“Pay attention, Boy.” He heard, gentleness and fondness in the register, despite the word choice. And suddenly the memory came into focus. The dagger. His dagger. John held it out to his tiny, confused son. “You know how to play hide-and-seek, don't you Keith.” The child nodded. “You take the dagger. You go hide. Hide somewhere good. And you just stay there, quiet as a mouse.” John lifted a finger to his lips, eyes locked on his child's. “Don't you make a peep.” He added. “And; what-” He encouraged the other to repeat the words with him. Keith's little voice mirrored his father's.  
“Don't come out. No matter what I hear. -I know, Dad.” Came the endearingly indignant voice. Keith was a sober child. He didn't take many things lightly. John told himself it was fortunate for now. Better this way.  
“Good. And don't come out 'till I say; -what.” He asked, and tiny Keith's head nodded methodically with the syllables childishly as he recited them, his smile growing as he did;  
“Ollie. Ollie. ox-en free.” John smiled, ruffling his child's hair. Keith giggled.  
“Good. Good.” A sound came from outside; odd, considering their reclusive lifestyle, and location. John spoke with some urgency. “Go on now! Hold that dagger tight. I'm gonna start counting now. Hide quick!”  
Keith hurried away. He knew the perfect place, and prided himself on his ability. He was small and could fit nearly anywhere. He was clever and knew where his dad would surely never find him; He had noticed a loose floor board when they moved in, and began hiding trinkets there; a dead mouse, an arrowhead, cards from a game he used to play with other children, before they had to move again. It was here that Keith had been digging, enlarging the space until he could fit perfectly. He was the hide and seek champion.  
The boy curled up in a tight little ball, the floor board settling just above his head into place as the front door suddenly burst open. Men were shouting. John was shouting.  
Then, gunfire.  
'Don't come out. No matter what you hear.' Came his father's voice in his head. Little jewel-tone eyes settled straight ahead of him at nothing. His dad always made sure to make a lot of crashing and yelling noises before, trying to get Keith to come out of hiding. And the noises always stopped the moment he did, his father holding his little shoulders and explaining he was 'out now'. Explaining to him that the noises were just a trick. And again, that Keith should stay hidden. No matter what.  
So the gun shots rang. There was a loud thud against the floor. Thunderous shuffling. A deafening FUH-FUH-FUH-FUH-FUH and bright lights coming from somewhere.  
“We've got him!! There's no one else here!”  
“Roger that. Bring him in!”  
“Ok move! Move!”

The sound of crashing, chopping air quickly deadened. The room grew dim again.  
The room died.

Silence. Keith couldn't hear his father anywhere. He couldn't hear his footsteps on the creaking wood floor. He couldn't hear his breath, he couldn't... sense him. It was like he was gone.  
He felt his lower jaw begin to tremble. Confused and frightened, he tightened his eyes shut. Dad told him to stay hidden. He trained him well. Don't come out.  
Don't come out..

At the castle the next morning, Keith stumbled into the kitchen with mussy hair and bleary eyes. He rubbed one side of his face with his palm. Shiro, pouring his purple coffee, immediately noticed something was askew.  
“You alright, Keith?”  
“Mh. Yeah. I'm good.” He replied. Which wasn't a lie. All of that happened a long time ago. It was nothing new, and nothing he couldn't handle. Just a little sleep deprivation. Maybe he could catch a nap later.

Lance swiped the last peanut butter cracker from Pidge and immediately ate it. The green paladin hopped and made a swipe for it, but was too late.  
“Lance! That was mine!” And Lance protested.  
“Says you! You ate all the rest of them!” And Hunk piped in.  
“Actually.. that was me.” He stifled a hiccup. “Sorry guys.” He smiled sheepishly. “Hey, know what? I'll make pancakes!” Which was met with jubilation from the other two. Shiro smiled at them, but his attention turned back to Keith as the red paladin sat at the table.

“You know you can always talk to me, Keith.” He offered, not pressuring the other. He knew Keith couldn't be forced into these things. He would come out with it in his own time, when he was ready.  
“Thanx.” The response was short, but there was appreciation in his voice. For a time, Shiro had been his only connection to the rest of the world. At the Garrison, orphaned and strange, he had been picked on, and Keith learned to defend himself. No one could begin to relate to him. When he tried to make friends, it always ended badly. Keith learned to keep his distance. It wasn't until Shiro noticed him; how he always ate alone, always worked alone, how he never seemed to smile.. that the older pilot decided to tutor him, get to know him.. It was Shiro who encouraged him and believed in him.. made him the pilot he was. And it was Shiro who became his only friend; his family.. until his disappearance during his mission to Kerberos.  
Keith trusted Shiro. If he was going to speak to anyone about his past; it would be him. Still, Keith hardly understood what happened that night; why he never saw his father again. And right now, it really didn't matter. Their calling, their mission was more important. As Hunk slid over a plate full of pinkish red pancakes, the red paladin managed a small grateful huff and a smile. Hunk's cooking definitely beat out canned beans and ramen. It was good to be a paladin. It was good to be a team.

 

Keith was in his room when it happened. Lance and Shiro had gone together on a mission of diplomacy to a nearby planet to negotiate an alliance. It should have been safe enough, but Keith quickly started, hearing the siren blare, and he grabbed his jacket, running to the control room to hear what was going on.  
“They've been ambushed!” Coran shouted, frantically swiping through scanners and charts and video confirmation.  
“Wait, what??” Hunk entered, with Pidge close behind.  
“What coordinates??” Pidge asked, hurrying to the nearest control panel and finding out for herself, hurriedly locking onto the system of the other ship.  
“It's Lotor! He must have a spy among the Ninatorins! He knew about the meeting!”  
“Where are they??” Keith asked, sharp eyes darting anxiously across the screen, catching a blue helmet just tumble it's way out of Lotor's ship as the landing strip loaded for take off. “THERE.” He pointed, enlarging the shot.  
Hunk, Coran, Pidge, and Keith stood, staring at the helmet left in the dirt. 

Suddenly, they received a signal from the Ninatorin leader.  
“Lotor's halfbreed generals ambushed our banquet! They've taken the blue, and the black paladin!” Keith dropped his fist against the edge of the panel, letting out a frustrated growl.  
“Where are they taking them??”  
“I don't know!” Came the dignitary, clearly shaken, but unharmed himself. “My men did everything they could, but Lotor's a demon! He manipulated my captain's mind and ordered him to shoot my daughter if the paladins didn't go with them!” He paused, his voice became quieter as he hugged his child. “Your leader and your blue paladin, they-.. surrendered. For her sake.”  
Allura's voice came then, having heard most of the conversation. “They're valiant men. And Lotor is a snake. It's not your fault they were taken. Thank you for your hospitality, your grace.” And the channel was closed.

“We've got to rescue them. Now. Before Lotor leaves the system.” Keith ordered, already on his way to the hanger of the black lion. But he was stopped by another sound of alarm.  
Lotor's ship vanished. Almost into thin air. Keith felt the air escape his lungs, his heart sank. Where did they go?? “Coran! What's happening??”  
“I-.. I don't know! They were here one minute and gone the next!” That was when Pidge piped in.  
“They've put a cloaking device on their ship! It's still here, we just can't see it!”  
“Coran! Activate the heat vision camera!” Keith called.  
“On it!” Came the reply. A button push here and there, and visually, the ship was still gone, but there was an abnormality the same size, just leaving the atmosphere.  
“They're getting away!” Keith cried, jumping to his control panel and firing on their engine.  
“Keith, don't shoot! We could hurt Shiro and Lance!” Came Allura's protest, a gentle, firm hand on his wrist.  
“Aaaugh! I'm going after them in the black lion!” He got up immediately for the chase.  
“Keith! This is Lotor! He has a plan! We need to discuss this!”  
“Keith, listen to Allura! She knows what she's talking about!” Chimed in Pidge.  
“Whatever he has planned, he won't have time to carry it out!” He shouted angrily, But just then, a bright light appeared in front of Lotor's ship. “No...” Keith's eyes widened.  
“They're using teledove technology to jump through a worm hole!” Coran cried out. “Where in Glabthunk's name did a Galra ship get their hands on enough material to-....” And then he remembered. Keith and Hunk encountered that Galra general in the weblum. They did have the scaltrite to pull it off.  
And just like that, they were gone.

The team met to discuss their next action.  
“We need to figure out where Lotor is taking them. And what he wants them for.” Keith started.  
“Well.. I hate to say it, but.. Lotor knows we're able to find new paladins. This goes beyond trying to stop Voltron. He may.. want them for information.”  
“He's.. going to torture them?” Hunk asked, and immediately regretted it.  
“Yes.” Allura answered, head lowered slightly and avoiding eye contact.  
Keith refused to contemplate that right now. First, they had to focus on getting them back.  
“Ok. That just means we've got to think quick. Lotor can't create another wormhole like that often, so if we figure out where they've gone, they can't get away like that again.”  
“But... they could have gone anywhere..” Pidge mentioned, quiet and sullen. The room stilled a moment. Keith shook his head.  
“Come on. There has to be something. Something we're not thinking of. Shiro still had his helmet, right? Coran, can you enlarge the range on his transmission?” Coran scanned the screens, wavelengths animated in translucent teal and green. Keith threw his own helmet on, eyes closed and focused, trying to pick up anything.  
“Shiro! Shiro, are you there?? Where've they taken you??” Static. And then a dot of a voice. Shiro's voice. Keith was sure of it. “Are you getting this?? Pidge, track that signal!” He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to focus. “Shiro! I- I can't hear you! Where-..!” More static. Nonsensical snips of voice. Then nothing...  
Keith threw his helmet on the ground. “Pidge! You get anything?”  
“Keith, it's not good.” She continued. “The signal is so faint, and-..”  
“And what!” He asked in earnest.  
“I.. don't know. It's like it's coming from.. a dozen quintent from now. Almost two weeks into the future.”  
“How... how is that even possible?” Keith asked, eyes widened, brow furrowed.. On Lance and Shiro's time, had they already been captive for two weeks?? The idea was horrible. How could this have happened?

“I've got them!” Coran called out; his vast charts quickly zeroing in on coordinates.  
“I'm going after them!” Keith called out, and then he was gone.  
“I'll cover you!” Called Hunk, close behind, heading to his lion.

After the castle had made the jump, the lions deployed.  
Within Lotor's ship, Zethrid declared;  
“Prince Lotor! The black and the yellow lions were picked up on our radar. They're in range.” The prince only smirked from his chair, his cheek rested against his fist leisurely.  
“... Perfect.”  
From outside, as they drew closer, shots were fired. Immediately hitting the yellow lion.  
“Woahhhhh Keith! Keith, they got me!”  
“Hang in there, Hunk!” He called, moving on ahead as the yellow lion regained its composure. In Keith's mind, he was focused, eyes sharp. 'I won't lose you again, Shiro...' And with determination, he used the jaw blade to anchor himself to the other ship. “Keep him distracted!” He ordered to Hunk, knowing Lotor would be aware of his presence, but the prince would have to pick his battles.  
“Keith? Keeeeith?? Distracted how! I'm not supposed to shoot, or I could hurt you guys!”  
“I-..! I don't know! Get creative!!” Hunk's eyes narrowed in thought at his control panel. Then he smiled. With a few pulls of wires and poking at buttons, soon, all of Lotor's screens were showing a familiar vision of a very animated, much younger Coran, and a child in a giant Weblum costume, dancing and reciting a script for the instructional video.

“What-.. What is this foolishness?? Where are the lions!” Cried Lotor, but he didn't wait for an answer, he only got up from his chair, and swiftly retreated to where he held his captives, knowing that was exactly where the other paladins would be soon enough.  
Down another hallway, the wall of the ship began to glow as the marmora blade tore through, falling in, as Keith dropped to the floor. He pressed his hand to the side of his helmet. “Shiro..! Shiro, I'm here! Where are you guys?” … no answer. Keith's focus turned done direction then the other, and began to search. The ship was small, and there weren't any of the typical robot centuries... However, before he knew what hit him, Keith was kicked in the side of the head, and dropped his blade. Ezor quickly materialized into view with a simpering giggle.  
“Did you think it would be that easy?” She took a step closer as Keith got back to his feet. After a beat, she came at him again, agile and nimble as an elf. Keith dodged the attack, but didn't land a counter blow his first attempt. She was so quick it was hard to follow her. .. So he paused. 'Patience.' He thought. 'I'll let her come to me.'  
“Giving up already? You paladins are such pushovers. I thought this was gonna be fun~.” She teased. But this time, when her kick came, Keith grabbed her ankle, turning to the side, and using her own momentum to throw her forward and attack from behind. She cried out as a gash landed to her back and she collapsed angrily to the floor.  
And then Lotor appeared.  
“General Ezor.” He began. She looked up at him with an anxious, sorrowful pout. But instead of berating her, the prince kneeled, extending his hand to help her up. “How clever of you to intercept the red paladin. Are you alright my dear?”  
“I'm fine.” She winced. “He can't hurt me.” She almost taunted, throwing Keith a glare before she stood behind the prince and the other generals soon joined behind her.

“As you can see, you're outnumbered.” Lotor explained, reaching over with a simple push of a button, opening the door to the room where Shiro and Lance were being kept, tied back to back, to a pole in the middle of the floor. They were bruised, tired, with minor bleeding, but they were whole.  
“Guys!” Keith called out, starting toward them, but Axca stopped him with side of her blaster.

“Ahhh~ Not so fast.” Lotor taunted. Keith's eyes narrowed.  
“What do you want.” He asked, with a sharp voice.  
“I want you... to choose.” Said the prince. A wicked grin pulled across his face. His generals turned to look at him in confusion. Had Keith heard that right?  
“Choose what. How you're going to kill them?” The prince laughed. “Oh how gastly. I like how your mind works, red paladin. But no.” He explained. “I want you to choose.. one of them. To take back with you. Only one.”  
Keith looked at the two of them. Shiro could hardly speak. Lance was sullen, wincing and turned away his gaze.  
“This is a trick.” Keith said, scanning Lotor's face with a furrowed brow. “You know we have one paladin too many. You want me to choose who is more important to Voltron. ..And then you'll keep him, and send me back with the other.”  
“Ahh~ clever. Cunning.”  
“Drop the flattery.”  
“Hmm.. perhaps that's what I had in mind. Perhaps not. I'm really not going to give anything away. But the choice is still yours. Pick one, and he goes back with you. No catch, no fighting. .. The choice is yours.” He leaned in closer, dark, sadistic, fascinated by the situation. 

Keith's glare at the prince turned then, to Shiro and Lance with a depth and anxiousness of concern.. Keith loved Shiro. He loved him like the only family he had. Hadn't the man suffered enough? From Lance's defeated, avoidant expression, he knew.. considering the relationship between Keith and Shiro.. considering Allura was piloting the blue lions with such prowess, such potential.. he was a sixth wheel after all. If anyone was going to stay behind with Lotor.. it was him. The blue paladin softly winced his eyes shut.  
He thought of Varadero Beach.. his little niece and nephew.. He thought of his mother's embrace..  
Trying to be brave, still a single tear spilled unnoticed down his cheek. He'd never see her again..

“Take me.” Keith's voice was firm and purposeful. Lotor blinked at him. Then smirked in amusement.  
“Are you not the current leader? How will they form Voltron without the pilot of the black lion?”  
“That's none of your concern. It's not part of our deal. You take me, and two paladins return to the castle. No catch, no fight. And one stays here.”

“Keith no-..” Shiro groaned, struggling against his restraints. A red cuff on his arm prevented it from powering up in his defense. Lance turned to look at Keith, his eyes wide and still watery.  
“.. But Keith-...!”  
“Shut up, Lance!” He shot back. He couldn't deal with all the emotions right now. He knew what he had to do. He knew Black had rejected Shiro upon his return, but.. with Keith out of the running, the Black lion would have no other choice. They could still form Voltron. They could still save the universe. If they had to do it without him.. Keith could live with that.

And he was growing impatient.  
“I said TAKE ME. Let them go!” Lotor chuckled, rubbing his chin. “Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events.. but I am a man of my word..” He made a casual, affirmative gesture, and Axca cut their bonds. The exhausted paladins dropped to the floor before attempting to stand. Zethrid took Keith and cuffed his arms behind his back.

Shiro stood. “Keith..” He staggered. “I'm not leaving you.”  
“You have to.” He answered, his eyes widened with determination not to become emotional and make this harder for Shiro. The most important thing was getting them out of there. Keith might be able to escape later anyway. It would be easier on his own, and since he was in better health than the other two. This was the only way. His gaze softened. “Everything's gonna be ok...”  
And Shiro and Lance were escorted to the damaged hull of Lotor's ship, where Hunk and the two lions were waiting.

“Wait, what? You guys look terrible! Where's Keith? What's going on??”  
“General Narti!” Lotor called through his communication device in his wrist. “We're taking off!” -Hunk protested, hurridly pulling Shiro and Lance into the mouth of the yellow lion before the Galra cruiser could tear him in half.  
“Woah woah woah-woah-woah!!”

On the floor of the cockpit of the yellow lion, Shiro attempted making orders.  
“You have to.. go after them. We have to save Keith..”  
“But I have to get you guys into pods! Look at you! We can't fight Lotor like this!” Shiro faded back out of consciousness, and Hunk turned to Lance for some kind of confirmation. But Lance felt a large pit in his stomach. His face was bruised, his body ready to drop from exhaustion, lack of food and water. Hunk was right. Lance's voice was sullen.  
“Get Shiro back to the castle...”

 

On his ship, Lotor landed a blow to Keith's left cheek as Zethrid held him.  
“Tell me what planet you hail from. What species are you paladins?” Asked the prince. But Keith huffed with a tired smirk. No answer. “You... find this amusing.” Lotor was confused. If he knew who they were, he could take the whole planet as ransom for Voltron. Surely they would have to concede then.  
Lotor landed another blow. “What are you!!”  
Keith coughed and raised sharp eyes at the general with a straight face. “... I'm Galra.” Again, the prince was surprised.  
“You're lying!” But being a half breed himself, he wasn't sure. He stood, staring into Keith's vaguely amethyst eyes. Was that normal for... whatever the paladins are? He didn't know.. In frustration, he waved his hand, giving orders. “Lock him away. We'll see how forthcoming he is with information without food and water for a few days.”

In the castle, Shiro was in a fitful rest inside a healing pod.  
“Where's Keith?” Pidge asked.  
“Lotor has him.” Lance relayed, the words feeling like poison. This was his fault, he thought. Keith was more important to the team. Lance felt he should have protested more strongly about staying behind himself. He felt selfish..  
“What??” Allura urged, “Keith didn't make it out? Who's going to fly the black lion?”  
“What are we gonna do, guys, we gotta get him back!” Hunk panicked.  
“Well, it wont be hard to follow them. They can't open another worm hole now.” Coran offered.  
“Can the castle hijack the whole cruiser?” Asked Pidge.  
“Not without compliance. The hanger could crush their vessel in half, and Keith is still on it.” Allura explained.  
That was it. Everyone without meaning to, turned to look to their former leader, unconscious in his pod. Their current leader was gone. They were at a loss.

Within his cell, Keith fidgeted with his handcuffs, looking around. If he could destroy the keypad on the door, he might be able to open it. But that would make noise. He might also encounter someone standing guard just on the other side, and he would have to be prepared to fight them; which meant getting out of the handcuffs.  
“Rraugh... stupid space handcuffs..” On earth, he knew some way of manipulating those and getting free. But these seemed some how composed of lazors. On top of that, even if he was able to get out of the cell, and fight the guard.. the lions were gone. He had no way out...

He paused in thought. 'The only reason I'm in here.. is because they want me for information. They need me. What would they do if I.. suddenly wasn't here anymore..' Eyes scanned the room again. He began kicking against surfaces and listening to them until something sounded different. And the he heard it. Something sounded hollow. Keith smirked.  
Manipulating the compartment with his foot, he managed to levy it open and shimmy down into it, allowing it to close lightly against him. And then he waited.... He remembered waiting in the floorboard of the shack for his father.  
He waited..  
and he waited..  
and he waited..  
He comforted himself out of the painful memory with familiar words.  
“Patience... yields focus...”

Soon, one of the generals sounded in alarm from the other side.  
“Where's the prisoner! You were supposed to guard to door!”  
“I was here the whole time! He must have gotten out another way!”  
“Prince Lotor! The prisoner has escaped!”  
“YOU-!! Gnrrghh! Escaped WHERE!” Swiftly, in came Lotor, followed by Acxa, Ezor, and finally Zethrid. After only a moment of confusion as they stood looking around the cell, Keith burst out by the door and slammed his huffed palm against the Galra-sensitive controls as he darted back out, telling the door to shut behind him.. with Lotor and three of his generals on the inside.  
The generals began to argue, blaming one another. Zethrid slammed her hand against the door, putting a decent dent it in from the inside, but it was a cell, and meant to contain them; and that it did. Lotor only stared with determined eyes out the cell window, giving Keith a death glare.

Backing away from the door, Keith bumped right into a warm body. The face to accompany it was terrifying. Narti. Her cat hissed and the general made a swipe of blue claws at him, but Keith dodged. He swiftly threw his hands over her head, and tightened his bounds against her neck.  
“Release me!” He ordered. “Release me or I'll strangle you!”  
Narti's voice was like lava over cracked ice. “... Never..!” Keith hesitated, teeth bared. He struggled with her until she simply fainted from lack of oxygen, and he searched her uniform for the code, and freed himself. He dragged her to the cell across from the others, and nearly locked her in, when her cat leapt up and scratched him across the face with a feline screech.  
“Augh! You stupid...!” And then he began to sway.. He was losing consciousness.. The claws had been poisoned. Narti was still free.. he had to close the--..  
But everything went black.

In his mwmories..  
“Don't come out.. don't come out no matter what you hear. Not till I say; -what.” He could hear John's voice. In his sleep, Keith muttered.  
“Ollie ollie oxen free...”  
“Good.” He could see John smile. See him ruffle Keith's hair.. Keith's hand tightened around his dagger at the memory. The dagger was all he had left of him.

He slipped in and out of consciousness. Back then, when he fell asleep in the floor, he woke, and remembered he couldn't come out yet. Time passed, and day and night didn't matter anymore. Hunger stirred his belly. Sometimes it was light outside. Sometimes it was dark. Still he didn't come out. Not for anything. Not until he heard... a woman.

“Ollie ollie oxen free~...!” Those words... those words meant it was over! Those words meant he did it! He won! His father would be so proud..! Little Keith shifted under the floor, it felt strange to move. How long had he been in there? He cautiously began to push the floor board up to peer out.

A man and two women were in the shack.  
“I don't know. It doesn't seem like anyone is here.” One of them said.  
“The anonymous call said there was a child all alone here. We have to keep trying.  
"Maybe he's out playing in the caves.”  
“Maybe he's scared. Maybe he's hiding. Ollie ollie oxen free~..! You can come out..! We won't hurt you..!”

A gasp was heard as Keith lifted the board. One of the women came closer and offered him a hand. Little Keith hesitated, but took it. She crouched down to his eye level.  
“Hello.” She offered sympathetically. “My name is Penny. What's your name?” Dark, innocent jewel-tone eyes shifted, unsure, before Keith answered.  
“My name is Keith...”  
“Keith, I want you to come with us for a little while, ok? There will be other children there to play with. Are you hungry?” He nodded. Soon, he followed them out of the shack, and into their car. And they took Keith to the group home where he would live until he got accepted to the Garrison.

There was a bright light as the memory faded and Keith began to wake..  
“Keith..?” That was no woman, or his father, that was Lance...  
He began to regain consciousness, and startled awake, remembering he had to close Narti into her cell or she would release the others! But.. when he sat up, he was surrounded by the paladins, and Coran too.. They were on the ship.

“What... what happened..”  
“Woah, easy there.” Shiro smiled, helping Keith sit back down on the bed. “We were able to track the ship, and with Hunk's help overriding the system from inside the yellow lion, we got a visual on the security cameras and saw what happened. Lance flew over with the red lion and got you just in time.” Shiro added, patting Keith on the shoulder. “That was some pretty good strategy, Keith. Good thinking.” Keith half smiled, softly. He was glad to be back, and glad Shiro and Lance were alright...

Later, alone in his room, Lance knocked on Keith's door.  
“Yeah?” He called and the blue paladin entered.  
“Keith..” He began, and avoided the other's gaze, head lowered in thought.  
“... What is it. Everything ok?” Keith asked.  
“Why didn't you take Shiro?” Lance's blue eyes lifted, ashamed, curious.. Keith watched him with slightly widened eyes.  
“I.. couldn't just leave you there.” He explained, as if that should be obvious.  
“I know, but-!” Lance tried again. “We talked about this. Allura's flying Blue now. She's doing great. You guys have enough paladins. ...You don't need me.”  
“Yeah. We did talk about it.” Keith answered, folding his arms. “We're a team, Lance. We can play musical chairs with the lions all day, but it doesn't change that.” He added, tilting his head down lightly to catch the other's gaze. “We still need you.”  
Lance lifted his eyes. A shy, goofy, half smile curled the side of his face and he looked away. Then he waved Keith away flippantly. “Yeah whatever, you just needed an excuse to be the big hero, show-off. Like always.”  
Keith huffed softly through his nose. “Sure. Something like that.”

Back home on earth, a woman with long, curly brown hair and a gentle, round face woke from a troubled sleep with a gasp. She reached over, shaking her husband, and muttered to herself in Spanish before he woke. When he rolled over and looked up at her, her eyes were misty, and she smiled down at him full of hope, and relief.  
“Lance is alive.. My son is alive.”


End file.
